


Not A Threat

by arcadia_gay, ladydowntheroad



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: F/F, Flashbacks of how they met !! And them slowly falling for each other !!, I just wanna see Ellie and Dina happy, IT'S GAY, There'll be some angst, U get it, We all love a good coming out, We have a coming out in this too, but good angst, its got everything, its gunna be wholesome tho dw, just read it, possibly slow burn????, u feel me?, we even have a jealous ex !!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 22:04:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14942192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcadia_gay/pseuds/arcadia_gay, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydowntheroad/pseuds/ladydowntheroad
Summary: Following the events of Ellie and Dina's kiss at the festival. An exploration of how the pairs relationship developed from that moment on, and how they got to be where they are.(Currently rated M because of language, but it could change.)It's gunna be real wholesome overall, it's what the gays deserve.





	Not A Threat

**Author's Note:**

> This is something Rachel and I worked on together, we really hope you like it. We just felt like Ellie and Dina needed the love.

In the five years following the events with the Fireflies and everything that went down then, Joel and Ellie returned to Tommy's settlement in an attempt to find a bit of normality; a new start. And they did. Tommy had built a place for survivors to find a home and feel safe—or as safe as it could be in the world they've spent so long surviving in.

Joel and Tommy had managed to slowly move past their issues from years ago and would spend endless late nights laughing about memories from before the infection. Their reconnection and new built trust in one another had even allowed for Joel to be put in charge of a patrol team. He'd guide and schedule for people working in the settlement to head out of camp to hunt for food or to gather any materials they were in need of. Nothing too difficult, but many of them were teenagers who needed someone older to keep them on task, much like Joel's own, Ellie.

Ellie had settled in, too. She'd managed to make some friends within the settlement, by coming here she'd been able to be a teenager for once, something she never got before. Joel often caught her sneaking out to meet the other teenagers who were hiding in someone's room drinking a bottle of whiskey they'd managed to get their hands on. Joel never told her off for it though, she wasn't creating any harm and it was nice to see her finally be able to kid around and live a somewhat normal life. There was a girl named Dina who Joel had noticed Ellie became particularly close to, they spent most days together, whether it was on shift together or joking around in the canteen, they were often in each others company. It always made Joel smile whenever he saw Ellie with her laughing.

It made him think about Riley.

Ellie had mentioned her a couple of times now since arriving at Tommy's, he could tell by the way she spoke about her that they were close, she was her best friend after all. It hurt him to think about Ellie having to deal with losing Riley at such a young age, especially when she was all Ellie had at the time. Joel had suddenly realised at one point that if Ellie's bite had been only 3 weeks old when they met, it also meant the pain of losing Riley was still fresh. It made Joel feel bad for being so hard on her at first meeting, but he also knew Ellie forgave him, they barely knew each other back then. Although Ellie would always have Joel now, it was still comforting to know Ellie had someone else to confide in. After all, you can't tell your old man everything.

With Joel leading a patrol team, he got to meet a lot of the people Ellie hung out with. This being one of those times. Joel and Jesse were working on this week’s patrol schedule, Dina on Monday and Wednesday, Ellie on Tuesday and Thursday, Jesse on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He always got the most because he was the leader of the group. Jesse was a bit older than some of the others and was usually on the ball when it came to helping Joel lead the group. He wasn't a bad kid either, he was always polite and listened to instructions and tried his best. This however, didn't seem to be one of those days.

“I’m so sick of always getting the most fucking days, Dina and Ellie are just as capable as me, why don’t they go out three times a week? Not to mention the fact they're the three busiest days every single time.” Jesse exasperated, surprising Joel with his uncharacteristic tone.

Joel—admittedly—was a little taken aback. He’d never had a problem getting the most days before? And even if there was ever an issue, he'd always been rational when creating a solution with Joel.

“Yea', well you wanted to be the leader, 'member?” Joel cautiously reminded.

“I didn’t know when I signed up I’d be stuck doing it for _this_ long.” Jesse scoffed.

“Jesus, what is it with you today? You’ve been actin' like an ass since you got here.”

“Why don’t you tell me Joel? Ellie would know _all_ about it.”

“Ellie? What do you mean 'Ellie would know'?" Joel said with a slight growl. He'd become very protective of Ellie in the last few years.

Jesse scoffed, "I mean, Ellie lied to my face, and then took her for herself."

"Lied to you? Who's 'her'?" He said as he rubbed his hands over his face, trying to make sense of Jesse's words. Joel didn't understand and, quite frankly, was getting a little impatient—as well as angry, with Jesse's sudden disrespect.

"I'm talking about Dina! She didn't tell you?" Jesse stared at Joel questionably, breath heavy with annoyance. When Joel continued to look confused, Jesse see's Joel clearly has no idea what he's talking about and manages to calm himself, somewhat. "Last night at the festival? One minute Ellie is saying it'll be a week till me and Dina are back together, the next someone is telling me Ellie has her-" He catches Joel's look, daring him to continue, and stops himself before he says something that'll get him fired. Or worse, on Joel's bad side. He sighs. "People are saying she kissed Dina."

Joel pauses and ponders Jesse's words for a moment, Ellie had never said anything about liking Dina. In fact, she'd never talked about being interested in anyone. From what Ellie had told him, It'd seemed like they were just best friends. _friends_. Could he have missed something? Surely Ellie would have at least mentioned it? It was just rumour, after all. He thinks back to what Ellie told him back after he—After the fireflies happened. She mentioned Riley, her ‘best friend’. Would he have missed that?

“Joel, are you listening to me?"

“Look, I have no idea what you're talkin' about, but, you should be careful listening to whispers folks tell ya', they ain't always true." He shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know if what Jesse was telling him was true or not, but it gave him a lot to think about. "More importantly, get back to work. I’m sick of being the only one who gets anythin' done around here.”

The two manage to move past the topic, Jesse clearly realising Joel wasn't gonna put up with his shit for much longer. He instead sulked a little bit before he finished his duties for the day. Joel had managed to finish his work too, but his mind was all over the place. He wondered if he should just ask Ellie about it? But would she be pissed at him for getting involved with her personal life? He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, she'd already seemed a bit off lately for some reason.

When Joel arrived to his and Ellie's home, or what home was these days, he attempted to distract himself by watching T.V. They were fortunate enough to have electricity here, even if there were no channels left to watch anything on, therefore leaving them with old DVD's to rewatch over and over. With sunset coming on, it wasn't long until Ellie strolled in.

“Hey, Kiddo. where’ve you been? Feels like I haven't seen you all day.” Joel asked nonchalantly.

“Just, y'know...” Ellie shrugged as she sat down next to Joel with a big flop, taking up well over half of the space. Ellie had a way with making herself comfortable. “Out with Dina.”

Joel was silent for a moment. "Dina seems nice."

Ellie perked up a little bit as Joel's comment caught her off guard. "Yeah— she is." Ellie eyed Joel questionably, but still answered calmly.

"I was workin' with Jesse today, he uh, he seemed worked up about somethin'." He didn't want to force Ellie to tell him anything, but he wanted to remind her that he is is here for her, if she does want to talk.

"Oh yeah, that." Ellie rolled her eyes. "Dina broke up with him a week ago. He's acting like a pissbaby about the situation. From what she tells me, Dina isn't exactly interested in getting back together." Ellie said with a small smirk, thinking about the kiss last night. "Sucks for him, I guess."

"Oh... Any idea why?" Joel felt well out of his comfort zone, but it wasn't as if he was going to push Ellie for a confession or anything.

"Damn Joel, since when were you _so_ interested in camp gossip?" She laughed, teasing him.

"Well yea', but with Jesse whinin' and all, I thought I'd see if you knew anything about it." Joel said, noticeably a little bit uncomfortable with being called out. Ellie was one of the only people who could make him feel uneasy from time to time.

"I'm just fucking with you." She chuckled, lightly punching him in the arm. "But to answer your question, she might like someone else. I'm not sure though." Ellie said, her tone much more sincere than before.

Joel thought. "Anyone I might know?"

"Maybe." Ellie left it there, she didn't really know where Dina and Ellie stood, it was only a kiss after all. That could mean _anything_... or nothing. She didn't know if she was ready to tell Joel about something even she didn't have answers to. The two sat in silence for a few moments, before Ellie caught Joel staring at her with a look of deep thought.

"What?" Ellie snapped a little, in a defensive rather than rude way.

Joel chuckles. “I didn’t say nothin', Ellie.”

“Well you were _thinking_ something.” Ellie muttered under her breath, shooting Joel a look that would make anyone else feel threatened, but only made him laugh.  
"I'm always thinkin'. No need get so defensive, Kiddo." He said, following with a reassuring smile.

It wasn't that she didn’t want him to know, it was just all so new, she didn’t want to ruin anything—if there even _was_ anything. Maybe he already had some kind of an idea? Especially with Ellie spending so much time with Dina since coming to Jackson. Though, She'd never talked to Joel about anything like this, they didn't really have that kind of a relationship. Besides, they'd never _had_ to talk about this kind thing. The only other person she'd ever felt this way about was Riley, and that was before she knew Joel. Of course she'd told Joel about her, but skipped the details of the romantic feelings. Even if she had wanted to tell him about it, just _thinking_ about Riley still hurt her. Back when she and Riley were still in Boston at school, she'd heard kids like Tino joke about people being gay, that's when she'd learnt the meaning of the word, and how well she fit the very definition. It meant she wasn't blind to the fact not everyone feels that way, or agreed with it. Not that it should fucking matter, there's definitely more important things to be angry about in this world. Still, the idea of Joel being disappointed in her _hurt_. In the mean time, the idea of Joel wracking his brain trying to just work out how to ask her about it was kind of funny.

“Whatever Joel." Ellie laughed "I'm going to bed, 'night."

"Goodnight, Babygirl." Even though Ellie was nineteen now, she still found the nickname endearing.

Whilst trying to get to sleep, Ellie's mind was restless. Did Dina just kiss Ellie to make Jesse jealous? Surely she wouldn't do that, they were too close as friends. And what she said... _'they should be terrified'_. Those words made Ellie feel a little breathless, she kind of felt like a kid. She'd liked Dina for years now, but before she could even act on those feeling Dina had gotten together with Jesse, which sucked for Ellie. It was tough to see them together whilst Ellie was falling for Dina, but she'd just accepted that it wasn't gonna happen. Besides, her friendship with Dina came first. Dina was always so full of life, she was confident in all the ways Ellie wasn't. She was funny too, Ellie would even dare to say she's hilarious, but she'd never tell Dina that. Ellie could spend endless nights listening to Dina laughing at her own jokes. Not to mention she was beautiful, she'd think her dark brown hair and equally as dark brown eyes were boring, but Ellie didn't think so. To be completely honest with herself, Ellie had totally fallen for Dina, and after that kiss? Ellie was _all kinds_ of confused. She wanted to ask her, but was also worried she'd scare her away. The last thing she wanted to do was put pressure onto Dina. Despite everything, the kiss they shared still meant the world to Ellie. Ellie decided that for now, whatever happened with Dina, it was enough for her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank y'all for reading! Let us know if you liked it and what you want to see in future chapters. This is the first time we've both written in years, and I've only written a couple of times for TLoU, but that was a very long time ago. 
> 
> Please let me know how the formatting is, I can't tell if it's wrong or not.


End file.
